Panel: Local Off-Grid Energy Solutions Essential
Rwanda and Ethiopia are among five countries leading the way in shifting to sustainable energy and solar power, and other nations should follow suit, said a panel led by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
In a continent where some 620 million people live without power, the five countries are trying to boost their power supplies by cutting taxes on solar programmes and introducing policies to attract companies that offer off-grid and mini-grid solutions.
Other African governments should also focus on developing energy-efficient solutions on a smaller scale, rather than spending too much time and money on massive national power grids, the Africa Progress Panel (APP) said.
Large grids — which develop power at a source and transmit it to communities through massive power lines — are necessary for getting energy to some, but governments should not rely solely on them, said Max Jarrett, the director-in-charge of the APP.
“It’s just not feasible” to reach all Africans this way, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
David Goehring